About
Below are links to our teacher’s biographies. All of us at SSM wish you to know a bit about us, whether you’re the student or the parent.
Millie Thompson – Piano / Owner
Education:
Bachelor of Music Degree from Manhattanville College
Piano Pedagogy Certificate from Westminister Choir College
Miss Millie has lived in Somerville for many years. She and John Harrity purchased the school from Leo Gorny in 1980 and named it the Somerville School of Music. She continues to study piano with Ena Bronstein Barton and voice with Gary Gavula.
She currently has students from 5 to 83 and enjoys teaching all levels. She sings with IC choir in Somerville, Diocesan Festival choir and chamber choir group in Metuchen, and Tim Keyes Consort based in Skillman.
John Harrity – Guitar / Owner
John has been the co-owner of the Somerville School of Music since the purchase in 1980. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in music. John performs locally in many different forums. He lives in Hillsborough with his wife Betty and son Shawn and is still visited by his daugher Melody who remains in the area.
John enjoys hiking, running, bicycling, biblical archaeology, astronomy, and football. He strives to become a better person everyday.
Chris Mansolino – Guitar
Education:
High School – Bridgewater High School East
College – BS in Computer Science, Rutgers University
Started playing guitar at 15, taking lessons from Harry Etling for about a year. Then he studied rock and jazz with John Harrity, and began teaching at SSM in 1985. He also work as a software engineer for a financial software company. Outside of work he like to play the guitar, ski, hike, and read about computer languages. Chris is also newly married.
Les Sara – Guitar
Les Sara studied at SSM with John Harrity for years playing in High School Jazz band, pit band, choir, and various rock banks. He won the Somerville High School Louis Armstrong Award in 1988. He attended Raritan Valley Community College and Rutgers, played on PH101’s indie release “Hostage Heart” CD, and worked at Gorny’s Music Shop for 8 years. He’s played guitar and bass for many working cover bands and jazz sits. He loves music, candlelight dinners, and long walks on the beach. He has always considered himself a “tomboy” having his every waking thought revolved around his beautiful daughter.
Karen Kowalski – Piano
Karen began as a student at the Somerville School of Music where she continues to take piano lessons and quite enjoys performing. She is a pediatric occupational therapist whom also holds a masters degree in public health with a focus on health care administration. She works not only at SSM but also at Children’s Specialized Hospital in New Brunswick where she improves people’s lives on a daily basis through provision of occupational therapy services. Karen specializes in teaching piano to students with disabilities at SSM and has served as a presenter (MTNA national convention 2009 and Westminster Choir College), published numerous articles and currently has a book on the topic available on Amazon entitled “Playing It Their Way: An Innovative Approach to Teaching Music to Individuals with Physical and Mental Disabilites”. Karen is a resident of Somerville with her husband and two adorable children Jack and Catie.
Jim Manella – Guitar
Education:
Associate of Arts in Music
He writes and records original music. He has 15 years teaching experience at SSM and 23 years playing guitar overall. Jim is married and recently became the proud father of a beautiful baby girl.
Tom Rosenthol – Woodwinds
Ellen Clarke – Violin & Viola
Ellen Clarke teaches violin and viola at Somerville School of Music. She received her BA in Music at Thomas Edison State College. She also has an AA with a concentration in music from Raritan Valley Community College and an AS with a concentration in Biology from the same college. She began teaching private violin lessons in 1977. She is an adjunct teacher at Delbarton School. She is a member of American String Teachers Association (ASTA). Ellen teaches Music History and Theory classes to home-schooled children, and has been a member of the teaching staff of the Jointure of Somerset County, teaching beginner violin classes for adults and children. Ellen is also a teacher at The Music Shop (Boonton).
Ellen currently teaches on Fridays at Somerville School of Music.
Gary Gavula – Voice
Gary Gavula, baritone, has sung throughout the tri-state area in opera, oratorio and recital. He is a graduate of Westminster Choir College and pursued graduate studies in Vocal Performance at Temple University. Mr. Gavula has appeared with the NY Grand Opera, The Central Jersey Symphony Orchestra and the Tim Keyes Consort. Among his operatic roles are King Balthazar in Menotti’s Amal and the Night Visitors; Papageno in Mozart’s The Magic Flute; Peter, the father in Humperdink’s Hansel and Gretel; and Dr. Falke in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
As an oratorio soloist Mr. Gavula has performed Handel’s Messiah; Haydn’s Lord Nelson Mass and The Creation; Schubert’s Magnificat; Faure’s Requiem; Saint Saens’ Christmas Oratorio; Brahms’ A German Requiem; Charpentier’s Midnight Mass; and Tim Keyes’ Requiem. He can be heard as a soloist on the API Records release of the Faure Requiem, Keyes Requiem and Saint Saens Christmas Oratorio, which he recorded with the Tim Keyes Consort.
In addition to his singing engagements, Mr. Gavula maintains a private voice studio and has taught voice at Raritan Valley Community College. Involved in church music since he was a teenager, he has held positions in local churches since 1983
and is currently the Director of Sacred Music at Immaculate Conception Church, Somerville.
Percussion Department
Mark Galeo
Mark Galeo is an alumni of Berklee College of Music, where he majored in performance and composition.
An accomplished drummer and pianist, he has written and performed on numerous recordings, commercials and jingles in New York, Florida, and Massachusetts recording studios. He currently has a performing tribute duo dedicated to the music of James Taylor/Carole King, and is founder/President of Normark Consultants, LLC, a firm that assists independent musicians and film producers in the world of distribution.
An advocate of a modern, mental approach to music theory and playing, Mark seeks to build confidence in his students’ technical and musical skills, which will have a profound effect on one’s physical approach to the art.
He has two grown daughters and currently resides in upstate New York with his wife and two rescue dogs.
